


crayons & bracelets

by zeitgeistofnow



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Over a few years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 00:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17355425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeitgeistofnow/pseuds/zeitgeistofnow
Summary: “give it to who you'd like to marry.” His moms' words ran through five-year-old thomas’s head as he raced down the sidewalk. there were a lot of candidates for his future beau- he just had the kind of magnetic personality that attracts other five-year-olds. hell, even alexander the jerk would probably say yes if thomas asked. it wasn't a contest, though. there was only one person thomas could give the bracelet to.





	crayons & bracelets

Being a five-year-old is an interesting occupation, in James's opinion. It involves a lot of violin playing, even if he knows, objectively, that he probably sounds awful, being five. On the flip side, it also involves a lot of running around and playing outside, which James likes. His favorite person to play with is Thomas because he doesn't abandon James whenever he gets sick and he calls him Jemmy, which James likes. It's like having a code name, but all the time. 

On this particular day of being five, James is stuck inside with a cold. It isn't the worst- he's used to it by now, and his house is huge, so if he's bored, there's always something to do. His mom and dad don't want him sliding down the banisters, but they both have to go off to work and his babysitter usually spends her time on the phone, running her fingers through her hair and almost blushing. James thinks she's talking to whoever she's dating, but she won't say anything about them and he's not the type to pry. She makes him keep tissues with him when he's sick and stuffs them in the pockets of his jeans. 

He's in his room when the doorbell rings, wrapped in his quilt and idly playing with a truck set he got for his birthday. The doorbell is an E flat, according to his violin teacher. It's the first note of the song James is learning right now. 

He slides down the banister to get to the front door and tugs it open. James has the heaviest front door of any of his friends. There's a weird gargoyle-like door knocker on it, but none of his friends are tall enough to reach it so they just hit the door with their hands. Thomas is the only one who can press the doorbell and even he has to go on his tippy-toes.

Thomas is standing on the doormat, rocking back and forth on his heels and clutching something in his hand. "I  _ran_ here, Jemmy," he says seriously, brushing past the smaller boy to collapse on the entryway floor. "I ran into Alex and almost forgot what I was doing because he was having a water balloon fight in his yard and you know Alex's mom has the best water balloons and that weird water balloon pump and he threw one at me and got my back wet-" to illustrate, Thomas rolls over on the floor, displaying a damp spot on his striped button-up shirt- "but I remembered why I left the house and just stuck my tongue out at him and kept running. He's a jerk."

James just says "Yikes," because he likes Alex and they're partners in class a lot. He sits down on the floor next to Thomas. "Why  _did_ you come over here? I'm sick." He pulls a tissue out of his pocket and waves it in front of Thomas's face. Thomas shoves it away and reaches into his own pocket. 

"Mom got me bracelets and she said to give one of them to the person I want to marry and then my Baba said that I was too young to think about marriage and she tried to take them back and tickled me but I kept them safe in my pocket and ran here." He takes a pair of identical bangles out of the pocket. They're both silver metal with a pair of glass beads. They look handmade which is  _so cool._ James takes one of them hesitantly, looking at Thomas for verification. Thomas nods excitedly. 

There are two beads- one's light blue with tiny silver flecks and the other's dark pink and gold. James watched a documentary about making glass things with his babysitter a week ago. Making these beads must have been pretty tricky. He gives it back to Thomas reluctantly and Thomas cocks his head. 

"Who are you giving them to?" James asks, nodding at the bracelets.

Thomas blinks at him. "You?" It's not a sentence that should be a question, according to the grammar books James's mom makes him do, but he can tell it's definitely a question. "Duh."

"But we're both boys so we can't get married," James explains, slowly. Thomas's moms don't make him do as many workbooks as James's parents make him do, so James knows more than Thomas about most things.

"Not true. My moms are both girls."

"Yeah, but they're _girls._ It's... different," James says uncertainly. 

"Nope, they say it's not. I told them I was going to give it to you and Mom said that was great. Baba said that I was too young but they both like you so I'm sure our wedding will go off without a hitch."

"Oh." Thomas offers James the bracelet again and he takes it, slipping it onto his wrist. It doesn't fit very well, it's too big, but he's sure he'll grow into it. "Cool."

"Yeah." Thomas bounces to his feet. "D'you want to go get Alex back? I have a super soaker at home. We can surprise attack him."

"I'm sick," James repeats, staring at his feet.

Thomas is silent for a moment. "Oh, yeah." Another pause. "Well, that's fine! We can plan our wedding. Do you have crayons?"

James brightens. "They're in my room!"

 

Half-flirting with Thomas is a thing now, one that James does. It's tenth grade and Thomas's friends are all dicks, and James's friend is Alex, who's arguably also a dick, but his gay jokes are at least funny and not meant to be offensive and, eleven years later, he's still a good lab partner.

Every morning James and Thomas stand a few lockers apart, James grabbing his stuff for first period and Thomas chatting idly with some guy who always wears an obnoxiously large pair of headphones around his neck. It's usually punctuated with Alex's sneers and weird looks from Thomas's friends, but it's usually- pathetically- one of the high points of James's day.

"Hey, Madison, what's the bracelet?" Thomas's hair is tied back today, poufing out of a ponytail, which is unusual. He almost always wears it down because he says otherwise people get him confused with Lafayette. James can sort of see the resemblance, but he's known Thomas for so long it seems ridiculous that someone wouldn't be able to tell them apart. He didn't say that to James, either, he said it to one of his  _actual_ friends, but James sits right behind him in English and overheard the conversation. These minutes, right away in the morning, are the only ones that Thomas and James spend together at this point.

James glances down at the bracelet, shoving up the sleeve of his sweater- his babysitter sent it to him from college with a Kleenex box. It's a silver bangle that he did, indeed, grow into, with two glass beads pressing into his wrist. He'd just grabbed it at random from his- admittedly pretty expansive-jewelry collection, and he's now  _severely_ regreting it. "It's pretty," he says, staring into his locker. 

Thomas looks concerned. Understandably. This is not how James usually responds to his questions. "Hell yeah it is," he says instead of asking if he's upset, which James truly shouldn't be upset about, and so he isn't. James is a rational person. "Where'd you get it?"

Alex lets out a heavy sigh and rolls his eyes at Thomas. "The fuck do you care?"

"Just curious," Thomas shoots back easily. "Besides, this isn't your conversation."

Alex goes back to his phone, waiting for someone- probably either Eliza, or John, on Angelica, or Aaron, or any one of the people he's sort of but not really dating- to text him back. James can tell he's still listening.

"Seriously, Mads, where'd you get it?" James is pretty sure Thomas is goading him but he's never been good at being mad at Thomas.

"You gave it to me," James mutters, collecting his math book. 

Thomas doesn't seem to hear, but Alex does. James can tell because he goes rigid for a second before glaring at Thomas. 

"What?" Thomas furrows his brow. "Sorry, man, I didn't hear. Where?"

"Nowhere  _you_ can afford," Alex snaps. "Git." He grabs James's arm and slams his locker for him, dragging him away.

Thomas laughs bemusedly. "Asshole!" He shouts after Alex.

Alex flips him off and wraps his other arm around James. "I can't believe you're hung up on  _him,_ " he gripes. 

"Yeah," James agrees.

 

"So're Hamilton and Madison dating?" The guy in front of James and to the left of Thomas is chewing on his pencil and gossiping with Thomas and his friends. James tries to shrink back into his sweater and focus on the Chromebook and essay in front of him. He wishes the teacher allowed earbuds, but she's old and not apt to change her ways, in James's words. Alex called her a reptile with one foot in the grave and no notion of change. 

"Nah, Alex's dating that one Schuyler chick."

"She's hot," Thomas comments distractedly. James thinks he might actually be working on his essay.

"No, Alex is dating John Laurens." Headphones guy insists.

"I saw him on a date with Burr."

"No, Eliza."

"He's dating two of the three sisters?" Someone whistles.

"Well, if he's dating this many people, couldn't he be dating Madison too?"

"Why don't you  _ask him_ if you're so fucking interested," Thomas finally snaps.

The guy in front of James puts down his pencil and turns to look at Thomas. "Testy."

"I need to get this essay done." 

"Hey, man." Headphones guy twists in his chair to look at James. "Are you and Hamilton a thing?"

"Uh." James's face heats up and he's just glad he doesn't really blush. "No, we're just friends." James thinks he might see a smile twitch at the edge of Thomas's mouth, but maybe that's just wishful thinking.

Thomas rolls his eyes. "There. You've got your answer. Jesus Christ."

 

James stumbles into the kitchen in his PJs. Thomas is already perched on the counter, holding the newspaper open with both hands. He's almost shaking, but maybe James is just tired. The pair stayed up way too late watch some show Thomas is obsessed with, and Thomas had woken James up earlier than he'd hoped to be awake with the banging of pots and pans. It hadn't all been for naught, though, because there was a stack of pancakes sitting in the middle of the kitchen's island. Thomas handed James his mug of coffee without looking out from behind his newspaper, which, again, odd, which so is Thomas.

They'd started dating almost a year ago and had moved in together a few months later and having Thomas as a roommate never ceased to be interesting. There was the time they'd almost adopted three cats, and then ten beta fish, despite not having the space for either, and once when Thomas had invited every single kid on the street he could find in for dinner and had simply asked James to buy extra groceries. It was all nice things, all very Thomas things. It was nice.

James sips his coffee slowly and puts the mug down once he's done. Thomas doesn't say anything. 

"Babe," he asks finally. "Are you okay? You're being quiet."  _For once._

"Yeah, fine." Thomas folds up the newspaper and tucks it under his thigh. He's grinning- probably proud of the fact he made consumable food. "Pancakes?"

"I'm going to get dressed first." James is fine with being in his pajamas before he drinks his coffee, but after he feels uncomfortably underdressed, even just in his home. Also, he needs to brush his teeth. 

"Sounds good. But be quick because they're going to get cold."

James brushes his teeth with a weird herbal toothpaste Thomas bought from Whole Foods and pulls on joggers and an old t-shirt of Thomas's because it's a weekend and he doesn't have work. He puts in the stud earrings he found at a thrift store and reaches for the bracelet he wears daily. 

It's not there.

 _It's probably fine,_ he reassures himself,  _maybe you left it there, or Thomas took it for some reason, or..._

"Sweetie," James says, wandering back into the kitchen, "I think we might have been robbed."

Thomas looks blankly at him. "Robbed?"

"Yeah, my bracelet is missing." The situation starts to compute and James starts to panic. "Shit, we were robbed. Have you checked the bank account? Is there anything of huge value that's missing? Are-" He's breathing too fast and trying to slow them down feels like he's gasping for breath but being robbed is something that wasn't ever going to happen to him and-

Thomas hops off the counter and grabs James's hands, interlacing their fingers and staring him in the eye. "Jemmy," he says, "we weren't robbed."

James swallows and looks up at him. "We-" Thomas looks sheepish and he reaches into his pocket, pulls out the bracelet. 

"Mads, will you marry me?" Thomas rubs at the back of his neck, smiling hopefully. 

"Holy-" James wraps his arms around Thomas's neck, even though he has to go onto his tippy-toes to reach and buries his face in his shoulder. 

"So?"

"Yes, a  _thousand_ times yes. I love you so much." James's words are muffled, spoken into Thomas's hair, but he doesn't care.

James can feel Thomas's smile widen into a grin. "I love you too."

"We have so much planning we need to do." James takes a step away from Thomas.

"Well, we can start down." Thomas raises an eyebrow. "Do you have any crayons?"

**Author's Note:**

> this is a re-write of "i'll always say yes" which i wrote almost exactly two years ago! i hope you like it! :D
> 
> afterwards, they call all their friends and have their wedding at one of those really awesome old churches and it's very pretty and john plays the guitar
> 
>  ~~you can read the original fic here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9303701~~  
>  haha u can't read it there anymore because i decided it was simply too embarassing and i either deleted it or orphaned it. if u really want to read it u could look up the title but u dont. trust me.


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